Ferdinand Lundberg's book, "America's 60 Families" is a good resource for this kind of crap. The McCormick family owned Chicago for the most part. By donating an entire city block to become a park (at a substantial tax write-off), they exponentially increased the value of all the surrounding properties.

It's good to be king. You get to tell people what to pay, what to buy, and what the money is worth to do so.